Lustre (mineralogy)
Lustre (or luster) is a description of the way light interacts with the surface of a crystal, rock, or mineral. For example, a diamond is said to have an adamantine lustre and pyrite is said to have a metallic lustre. The term is also used to describe other items with a particular sheen (for example, fabric, especially silk and satin, or metals). The word lustre traces its origins back to the Latin word lux, meaning "light", and generally implies radiance, gloss, or brilliance. Terminology A broad range of terms are used to describe the lustre of minerals. It should be noted that lustre varies over a wide continuum, and so there are no rigid boundaries between the different terms. (For this reason, different sources can often describe the same mineral differently. This ambiguity is further complicated by the fact that lustre can vary widely within a particular mineral species.) The terms are frequently combined to describe intermediate types of lustre (for example, a "vitreous greasy" lustre). Adamantine lustre s]] Adamantine minerals possess a superlative lustre, which is most notably seen in diamond.Gemological Institute of America, GIA Gem Reference Guide 1995, ISBN 0-87311-019-6 Such minerals are transparent or translucent, and have a high refractive index (of 1.9 or more). Minerals with a true adamantine lustre are uncommon, with other examples being cerussite and zircon. Minerals with a lesser (but still relatively high) degree of lustre are referred to as subadamantine, with some examples being garnet and corundum. Dull lustre ]] Dull (or earthy) minerals exhibit little to no lustre, due to coarse granulations which scatter light in all directions, approximating a Lambertian reflector. An example is kaolinite. A distinction is sometimes drawn between dull minerals and earthy minerals, with the latter being coarser, and having even less lustre. Greasy lustre ]] Greasy minerals resemble fat or grease. A greasy lustre often occurs in minerals containing a great abundance of microscopic inclusions, with examples including opal and cordierite. Many minerals with a greasy lustre are also greasy to the touch. Metallic lustre ]] Metallic (or splendent) minerals have the lustre of polished metal (and with ideal surfaces will act like a mirror). Examples include galena, pyrite and magnetite. Pearly lustre ]] Pearly minerals consist of thin transparent co-planar sheets. Light reflecting from these layers give them a lustre reminiscent of pearls. Such minerals possess perfect cleavage, with examples including muscovite and stilbite. Resinous lustre ]] Resinous minerals have the appearance of resin, chewing gum or (smooth surfaced) plastic. A principal example is amber, which is a form of fossilized resin. Silky lustre variety of gypsum]] Silky minerals have a parallel arrangement of extremely fine fibres, giving them a lustre reminiscent of silk. Examples include asbestos, ulexite and the satin spar variety of gypsum. A fibrous lustre is similar, but has a coarser texture. Submetallic lustre ]] Submetallic minerals have similar lustre to metal, but are duller and less reflective. A submetallic lustre often occurs in near-opaque minerals with very high refractive indices, such as sphalerite, cinnabar and cuprite. Vitreous lustre ]] Vitreous minerals have the lustre of glass. This type of lustre is one of the most commonly seen, and occurs in transparent or translucent minerals with relatively low refractive indices. Common examples include calcite, quartz, topaz, beryl, tourmaline and fluorite, among others. Waxy lustre ]] Waxy minerals have a lustre resembling wax. Examples include jade and chalcedony. Optical phenomena Asterism cabochon]] Asterism is the display of a star-shaped luminous area. It is seen in some sapphires and rubies, where it is caused by impurities of rutile. It can also occur in garnet, diopside and spinel. Aventurescence ]] Aventurescence (or aventurization) is a reflectance effect like that of glitter. It arises from minute, preferentially oriented mineral platelets within the material. These platelets are so numerous that they also influence the material's body colour. In aventurine quartz chrome-bearing fuchsite makes for a green stone, and various iron oxides make for a red stone. Chatoyancy ]] Chatoyant minerals display luminous bands, which appear to move as the specimen is rotated. Such minerals are composed of parallel fibers (or contain fibrous voids or inclusions), which reflect light into a direction perpendicular to their orientation, thus forming narrow bands of light. The most famous examples are tiger's eye and cymophane, but the effect may also occur in other minerals such as aquamarine, moonstone and tourmaline. Schiller ]] Schiller, from German for "twinkle", is a term used to describe the metallic iridescence originating from below the surface of a stone, that occurs when light is reflected between layers of minerals. It is seen in moonstone and labradorite and is very similar to adularescence and aventurescence.Shipley, Robert M. (2007), Dictionary of gems and gemology, Read Books, pp. 93. Color-change ]] Color-change Alexandrite is a variety of chrysoberyl and the most well-known of color-change gemstones. Other gems also occur in color-change varieties, including (but not limited to) sapphire, garnet, spinel. Alexandrite displays a color change dependent upon light, along with strong pleochroism. The gem results from small scale replacement of aluminium by chromium oxide, which is responsible for alexandrite's characteristic green to red color change. Alexandrite from the Ural Mountains in Russia is green by daylight and red by incandescent light. Other varieties of alexandrite may be yellowish or pink in daylight and a columbine or raspberry red by incandescent light. The optimum or "ideal" color change would be fine emerald green to fine purplish red, but this is exceedingly rare. See also * Adamantine * Asterism (gemmology) * Aventurescence * Chatoyancy * Hornblende References Categoría:Lustre ca:Lluïssor cs:Lesk de:Glanz et:Läige es:Lustre eo:Glaceo fr:Éclat it:Lucentezza dei minerali lv:Spīdums (mineraloģija) nl:Glans no:Glans ja:光沢 pl:Połysk pt:Lustre ru:Блеск (геология) fi:Kiilto (mineralogia) Category:Mineralogy